Chapter three! Yay! So this chapter is Looooooong (comparatively speaking lol). I guess it makes up for the extremely short post last time (^_^') (Seriously I think my author's notes took up more space than the actual update lol).

To my reviewers that didn't post until after I had already typed chapter two, I apologize for not mentioning you in the author's notes at the beginning. You made me just as happy = )

As always I do not own Spirited Away

Now on with the show = )

It was dark by the time Chihiro made herself head towards the bath house. As she was walking towards the bridge she thought she saw a dragon fly over head. She wanted to yell Haku's name but she wasn't sure it was him or if it had even really been there.

Chihiro slowed down as she approached to bath house. Should she hold her breath? Just to be safe she did. As she took the first step onto the bridge her whole body shuddered and a thin smile played across her lips. She continued on her way and at one point looked up to see what she thought was Haku standing at one of the windows but as quickly as she'd seen him he was gone.

When Chihiro was almost to the other side of the bridge she slipped on the wet planks and landed flat on her rather sore back, knocking the wind out of her. Her whole body throbbed. The bruises Aouyama had given her were finally starting to turn purple and she had given her head a good whack when she landed.

She lay there breathless on the bridge in the rain for a moment then got to her feet.

"Crap. I took a breath…" she said as she walked towards the small door in the gate.

She planned to go through the boiler room like she had done the first time only this time she wouldn't scream. She stopped for a moment at the spot where she and Haku had crouched three months ago as everyone else tried to find them.

She slowly made her way down the hundreds of steps leading to the boiler room taking care not to slip this time. As she passed the step that broke the first time she went down them she smiled bitterly.

"You're not going to get me again. Not this time at least."

When Chihiro reached the door to the boiler room she wasn't sure if she should risk waking Kamaji up.

"But I'm already here…" she thought. And with that she opened the door.

As she stepped over the thresh hold she felt as if she was in a place where she totally belonged. She felt like she was home.

Chihiro didn't have to risk waking the boiler-man up because he was already waking up and getting the fires ready. She stood in the hallway and smiled as she listened to his grumbles about the soot sprites and other things.

Just when Chihiro was about to walk in the room the door on the far wall opened and Lin climbed through with food for Kamaji and the soot sprites.

"Food's rea-," she began but stopped short when she saw Chihiro in the doorway.

"S-sen?" the older girl asked in an astonished voice.

Chihiro laughed and nodded as Lin all but dropped the tray of food and ran over and enfolded her in a huge bear hug.

Despite how much it hurt Chihiro's bruises she didn't pull back. It felt good to hug Lin. Kamaji was shocked as well. He'd even left his seat and walked over to them. Lin put her hands on Chihiro's shoulders and held her at arm's length.

"Oh my gosh I've missed you! Are you okay? You're covered in bruises! What happened to you?"

Chihiro's smile faded a little, but her friends deserved and answer. And so she took a deep breath and told them everything that had happened since she left the bath house. When she finally finished they stood there with shocked expressions on their faces.

"Wow…" was all Kamaji could say. Lin on the other hand…

"That jerk!" she exploded, punching her left hand with her right fist. "How dare he? And your mom left your dad for HIM! Ha!"

"He's lucky you weren't there I take it?" Chihiro laughed.

"Me?" Lin asked. "Yes. And he's doubly lucky Haku wasn't there. Just think how he'll react when he finds out!"

Chihiro's stomach did a flip. She hadn't thought about having to explain why she came but now that she was here it made perfect sense that people would ask why. And she didn't exactly have a way of concealing all her bruises.

"Speaking of Haku…" Chihiro began, "I need to go talk to Yubaba."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Lin asked.

"Yes please," Chihiro nodded.

Lin dumped out the basket of food for the soot sprites and they all ran towards it.

"Come on," she said gently pulling Chihiro towards the door to the elevator.

"Good luck!" Kamaji called after them.

As they made their way up to the top floor they talked about things that had been going on in the bath house, but once they made it to the top floor Lin had to leave.

"Good Luck, Sen," she said hugging her friend lightly before leaving.

Chihiro watched the elevator doors shut and then turned towards the huge double doors in front of her. Her whole body ached and she was exhausted but she wasn't going to let Yubaba see it. So she took a deep breath, straightened her shoulders and knocked.

"Come in," Yubaba's voice said.

Chihiro walked forwards as all the doors opened.

"Faster," Yubaba said impatiently and she pulled Chihiro the rest of the way there.

Chihiro tried her best not to do a summer-salt when she landed this time, opting instead to land on her knees which gave them horrible rug-burn.

"Sen." Yubaba said, pretending to be surprised. "You've improved your landings, I see."

"I've been trying to Ma'am," Chihiro replied.

"So why're you here this time?"

"I'd like to work here, Ma'am," Chihiro shyly asked as she stood up.

Yubaba laughed. "After what you did last time? Ha! You're lucky I haven't turned you into coal yet!"

"Please, Ma'am," Chihiro said. "I haven't got anywhere else to turn to."

"What happened to those gluttenous parents of yours?" Yubaba asked, lighting a cigarette.

Chihiro gulped. This was the part she was dreading. She took a deep breath and explained things to Yubaba.

"Well then," Yubaba murmered. "That changes things… Alright, Sen. You can work here but I don't think you'll be doing anything for a couple of days. Not with bruises like that, you aren't. Sign this contract while I summon Haku."

Chihiro quickly wrote her name while Yubaba rand the bell.

And that concludes chapter three! The next chapter follows Haku again, but they finally meet up at last! I hope I made Chihiro more mature in this chapter. I'm trying to stick with the idea of her growing up and not being as apathetic after the end of the last movie like the theme goes. I love Lin, she's one of my favorite characters = ) I really hope I kept them all in character. I know I made Yubaba really nice but if you think about it she does have a nice side. As a writer I'm kind of banking on the fact that she's a mother so her maternal instincts would take over in certain situations regardless of the people involved.

Anyways the next chapter is written I just have to type it and upload it.

Thank you for reading guys!

-ArgentSterling